Remailable billing envelopes



April 1960 D. P. HILLIARD 2,931,559

REMAILABLE BILLING ENVELOPES Filed Aug. 23, 1954 DAV/0 I? H/LL/ARD,

IN V EN TOR.

United tates Pat REMAILABLE BILLING ENVELOPES mm Hmia'd, Beverly HillstCalifs assignor a. 'iiiivomu Corporal: poration of California Application August 23, 1954, Serial No. 451,495

1 Claim. (Cl. 229-73) This invention relates to a returnable billing envelope which may be used to transmit a statement of account at a reduced postage rate and then used by the recipient to enclose the check or money order used in payment of the statement of account.

In usual commercial billing practice, it is now customary to use an outer envelope addressed to the recipient enclosing a return self-addressed envelope for the use of the recipient in returning his check or money order. The first envelope may bear the billing information or the statement may be rendered on a separate enclosure. Such method of billing usually requires the sealing of the outer envelope addressed to the recipient which entails the regular first class letter rate of postage. It is obvious that the requirement of two envelopes and possibly the separate statement of account is comparatively expensive.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide an envelope which bears the address of the recipient on an outer side and the return address of the sender, or billing agent, on an easily removable, integral flap which may be folded and sealed over the first or recipients name and address.

A further purpose of my invention is to provide a mailable, returnable envelope bearing a form for the statement information, which information is stamped thereon and thus is not written or printed matter requiring the sealing of the envelope and, being stamped, the unsealed envelope may be sent by the biller at the lowest applicable postage rate.

Another purpose of my invention is to provide a readily detachable printed record form for the recipient so that upon entering the proper information thereon as to the number, amount and date of check, money order or other form of reimbursement, the recipient may readily remove the record form for his own files or records.

Various other features and objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred form of embodiment thereof, having reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the envelope as ready for mailing to the recipient;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the envelope showing detached;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the envelope ready for return mailing to the billing agent; and Figure 4 is a detail view taken from the upper left hand corner of Figure 1 showing both flaps tucked into the envelope when first mailed by the billing agent.

With reference to the various figures wherein the same reference characters are used throughout, portion comprises the main body of the envelope with its front or address bearing portion 11 attached to the back portion 12 by means of the sealing flaps 13.

The back portion 12 carries the large flap 14. ,This flap 14 bears the name and address of the billing agent and the printed form for the billing statement on its inner side as shown at 15. The outer side of the flap'14 bears ice.

the return address of the billing agent with the indicated place for postage and the printed direction to Pull Out This Flap as indicated at 16. Flap 14 carries a sutlicient quantity of sealing material on its inner side 15, as shown at 17, for sealing said flap 14 down and over the front portion 11, as also shown at 16.

the statement and record forms, with the latter partly I The front portion 11 carries a smaller flap 18 which bears a duplicate of the printed form for the billing statement with an additional printed portion for the recipients use in keeping his own record. This flap 18 is joined to front portion 11 by a perforated or creased portion 19 so that flap 18 is readily detachable for the purpose indicated.

In use, the billing agent has the envelope addressed by hand or by an automatic addressing machine as shown at 11. The usual franking indicia for metered postage is shown in its proper place.

The billing agent then has a two line stamp set up so that each line reads, for instance:

August 1 October 1, 1954 4.50

This stamp is then used to impress this information on the surface 15 of flap 14 and the surface 20 of flap 18 in the spaces provided. Both flaps are then folded inside the envelope and the bill mailed. Being unsealed and the billing information being stamped interiorlythereof, the billing statement, as mailed, carries the lowest applicable postage rate.

Upon receipt, the recipient pulls out the flaps in accordance with the printed instructions; enters the necessary information on fiap 18; tears off flap 18 for his own files or records; puts his check or money order in the envelope; folds over and seals flap 14, thus exposing the return address of the billing agent; afiixes the necessary postage; and then mails the same in the usual manner.

It should be obvious that this envelope is made up from one sheet of paper in accordance with the usual practice. The only departure from such usual practice is providing the perforation, or deep crease 19 between flap 18 and portion 11.

While this embodiment of my invention has been illustrated in connection with collections for newspaper delivery, it should be obvious that it is suitable for any type of collections requiring, particularly, a statement of account for either a fixed period or as a reminder of amounts due and payable for any type of collection.

Various modifications may be made of the design and arrangement of the principal flaps illustrated without departing from the invention or defined in the following claims. One such modification would be, for example, to provide a copying material to be placed on the underside of flap 18, as at 21, so as to provide a record for the billing agent as to the exact date of payment and the number of the check used or any other such information as might be provided in the printed form.

Having thus described my invention in the foregoing specification and the accompanying drawing, I claim:

A remailable billing envelope having a body portion with dissimilar sized flaps extending from each side of the mouth of said body portion; said flaps being dimensioned so as to be readily inserted into said body portion; an indicia of mailing address on one exterior side of said body portion; an indicia of return mailing address on the side of the larger of said flaps away from the indicia of mailing address on said body portion; an indicia of statement of account on the inside of said larger flap with printed directions as to the use of said returnable envelope; the smaller of said flaps bearing indicia of record of payment of said statement of account; a line of perforations at the junction of said smaller flap with its corresponding body portion whereby said smaller flap may be readily detached from said body portion; transfer material carried on the inner side of said smaller flap whereby any endorsement of record written or inscribed thereon will be reproduced'on the inner side of said larger flap; and means for sealing said larger flap 'over the mouth ofsaid body portion whereby the first mailing address is concealed and the second return mailing address is exposed to view and whereby any extraneous matter placed within said body portion is held securely therein. s

References Cited in the file of this patent 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS Woolworth Mar. 1, 1864 Adams Oct. 17, 1916 Heywood Apr. 9, 1940 Whitman Apr. 20, 1943 Frampton '.L Oct. 31, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 12, 1939 

